Sunday, July 05, 2009

We knew we couldn't miss an edition of Weekend Wokking, and since the ingredient was CILANTRO (a favorite), we doubly couldn't miss this edition. It's a tough ingredient, for sure, for how does one make cilantro the star of a dish?

So, what to make?

It seems like our energy levels the past few weeks have been dipping considerably, and we seem to be "very busy" for unknown reasons, but we didn't want to just phone this one in. So, we thought something simple, yet something that's still a little unique, was in order.

We present to you, Cilantro Horchata!

[ts]Actually, I believe our first idea was a rice pudding, but we were even too lazy to make that.

Oh, by the way, JS has just made a groundbreaking discovery as to our dipping level of energy. Ready for it?

It's Dexter!Well, Dexter and age!

We've had the first season of Dexter on DVD for the longest time, purchased at Costco so long ago, and finally decided to watch it. We finished the season in three or four nights, staying up until only 2am or so. So, we decided to test fate. After discovering that Costco did not have Dexter for sale, I bought Season 2 via Amazon. We had about 5 days of rest before Season 2 arrived, and so were very cocky.

We watched Season 2in a mere two nights, staying awake until 4-ish (ok, 5-ish) in the morning. Holy, that took its toll! That was a week ago, and it seems the two of us are still paying for it. Age!

To make the horchata, I soaked some rice in water overnight. The next day, I buzzed the whole lot in a blender with more water until liquified.

At first, I strained the mixture through a coffee filter, but found that it strained out all the rice sediment! It left me just water, more or less. So I simply strained everything through a fine sieve.

The resulting drink was a tiniest bit gritty, and had to be stirred occasionally. Any tips on how to prevent the rice and the water from separating?

[ts]Oh yes, that is our cilantro plant. Our garden is in a state of... non-growth, let's just say. Everybody's bolting in there! So yes, our cilantro plant is now flowering, not yielding any leaves for us to use at all. I used the flowers as garnish for our cilantro horchata.

As for the flavor of the cilantro horchata, it certainly was refreshing and cilantro-y. Although, I believe that, as in all things cilantro, it is probably an acquired taste. =)

[ts]If Wandering Chopsticks and Darlene of Blazing Hot Wok (the host for this edition) will indulge us, we have one more cilantro entry for Weekend Wokking coming up (tomorrow's post)!

Make the cilantro syrup by simmering the sugar and water in a small saucepan until the sugar has completely dissolved. Add the cilantro stems to the syrup and steep, minimum 1 hour, or overnight. Strain out the stems and set syrup aside.

For the horchata, soak the rice grains in the 1 1/2 cups of water overnight, covered. The next day, place soaked rice and liquid in a blender and process until very smooth/liquified. Add the additional 4 cups of water. Strain though a fine sieve while chilling in the refrigerator. Stir well before serving.

Individuals can add cilantro syrup to taste, or simply mix together the syrup and horchata in a pitcher and serve.

17 comments:

This looks wonderful, a great idea, if I ever get my hands on that much cilantro! I've heard that the flowers pervent the leaves from growing, so you should get more leaves soon. But I've never been able to grow cilantro for more than a week.

Simply gorgeous! I'm a fan of cilantro too compared to parsley (except Italian flat parsley). What I learnt from my favorite Almond Milk seller when I was young, he used the traditional Chinese granite grinder to grind the almond meal before adding water and cook it. Maybe this technique can be apply to this Horchata. Of course, the large granite grinder is the problem... unless, if using the Indian traditional granite grinder. You know, the one with large tubular granite rolling pin and a rectangular granite flatbed :-D

pixen:Thanks for the info! Man, I knew we needed some sort of specialized equipment for this! Hehe... Although, if I'm not mistaken, I think there are perhaps some home grinders available... I just don't know from where!